Coptica 15, 2016

70 Ramez Mikhail

Coptic Church, which by that time had more or less reached the shape and structure that it retains to this day.

Summary

Having examined the most pertinent historical sources, the following useful summary may be forwarded: 1. Vestments particular to each rank are witnessed in Egypt as early as the 4 th century. This is at least true for bishops and deacons, according to Isidore of Pelusium, who speaks specifically of vestments for those two ranks. There is little information regarding other vestments, but these likely included the sticharion as a natural appropriation of the secular tunic for church use. 2. The oldest source for ordination rites in the Coptic Church, the codex Coptic Museum 253 Lit ( AD 1364), already grants the subdeacon to wear the orarion. There is no evidence that the Coptic Rite has ever applied canon 23 of the Council of Laodicea on this issue. 3. During the period 7 th -8 th centuries, priestly vestments continued to develop, acquiring the phelonion or burnus . The epitrachelion also made its first appearance in the sources at that juncture, though it may well have been in use for some time prior. 4. Some time before the 8 th century, priests in Scetis began to cover their heads during the liturgy with a ballīn -like garment, while deacons also began wearing a shoulder veil ( apomis ) at communion. This developed later ( ca . 11 th c.) to a head covering for the deacons as well, while the shoulder covering for deacons was likely dropped shortly after. 5. Meanwhile, in Cairo and other urban centers, priests began to cover their heads during the liturgy as well by the 12 th century, using what is called ṭaylasān in The Order of the Priesthood or c arḍī in Ibn Kabar. This practice was resisted briefly by Pope Gabriel II ibn Turayk, but by the 13 th century it seems to have become the norm. From the same era, priestly vestments reached their fullest development with the adoption of sleeves and the girdle. 6. In the 14 th century, possible evidence appears for the beginning of simplification of vestments, as seen in Ibn Kabar’s list, which lacks the mention of girdles for the priest. A century later, the girdle re- appears in the Ritual Order of Gabriel V. This latter source probably attempts to enforce an idealized vision of what vestments ought to be worn, rather than to present a realistic description. By the 15 th century, the vestment tradition of the Coptic Rite seems to have reached a stable state.